


Back to Back

by MariaAshby64



Category: No. 6 - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Late night thoughts, Nightmares, Sleep, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-06-28 13:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19813258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariaAshby64/pseuds/MariaAshby64
Summary: Nezumi fails to talk about his nightmares and Shion gets fed up about being kicked off the bed again.





	Back to Back

_He was standing in a clearing. The trees that surrounded him were vibrant with life, swaying in the breeze. High above, clouds floated across the sky as birdsong flitted though the air. He closed his eyes to listen. He wondered if it was his imagination, but he could almost hear his name being carried on the wind._

_Suddenly the breeze became a gale and whipped his hair across his face. A light flashed against his eyelids. As he opened them, he found that the world around him was awash in flame. The sky had turned black with smoke that burned into his lungs._

_He let out a cry and fell back, grazing himself against the ground beneath him. The screams of animals and people alike began to fill his ears, their cries were engrained into his brain. All the while the wind roared around him, almost drowning everything out._

_Scrambling to his feet, he glanced around wildly. Shadows lurked in the fire. Soldiers. Searching and killing everything in sight. They were looking for him._

_He ran blindly, stripping and stumbling through the smoke. His feet began to stick to the ground as it was churned into mud. But when he looked down, he saw that the earth had turned crimson with blood. It began to pool up to his knees, pulling him in. He was sinking, drowning, trapped in terror. The wind howled in his ears, crying his name. The tongues of fire seared across his back…_

Nezumi jolted upright in his bed as a loud crash echoed through the room. Panting he cast aside the sheets and scanned the shadows of the room around him, searching for the culprit. Sweat beaded on the back of his neck. The chill a sharp contrast from the flames that had chased him a moment ago.

But instead of finding his bungalow under attack he heard a familiar groan from the floor below him.

“Shion,” Nezumi peered down at the white-haired boy as he righted himself. “Why are you on the floor?”

Shion glared up at him as he cradled his head with his hand. “The reason I’m on the floor is entirely your fault.”

“Hmm?” Nezumi cast him a doubtful glance.

“You pushed me off, Nezumi.”

“You were taking up too much space,” Nezumi grumbled as he lay back down, resting an arm across his forehead. The flames of his dreams haunted the darkness behind his eyelids.

From the floor Shion gave a sigh. The mattress shifted as he climbed back on. He settled for a moment before suddenly getting up and clambering over Nezumi.

“Shion! What are you-?” Nezumi lifted the arm from his face as he tried to stop the other boy from kneeing him in the gut.

“I’m sick of being kicked off the bed,” Shion wrestled his arm out of Nezumi’s hands before he could get a grip on them. “I’m sleeping on the side of the wall from now on.”

“What? Wait, hang on…” He tried to stop him but Shion had caught Nezumi completely off guard. After a brief struggle Shion succeeded in shoving his feet under the covers and successfully wedging himself in the tight space between Nezumi and the wall.

Nezumi held his ground as Shion tried wiggling to get him to move over. After it was clear he wasn’t going to win that physical battle he gave Nezumi a pointed stare.

“Move.”

“You were the one to get yourself stuck there,” Nezumi gave him an equally pointed stare. “You move.”

He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this at all. He didn’t like sleeping with someone behind his back. He didn’t like the idea of Shion sleeping behind his back. He liked having a wall behind him, something solid and trusted. Something that couldn’t stab you in the middle of the night.

Shion was still staring at him. Something in his gaze shifted.

“You’re sweating.”

“If you have a problem with that, you can always go back to your old spot.”

“Nezumi,” Shion tilted his head. “did you have a nightmare?”

Nezumi didn’t answer him. Instead he just returned a blank stare, lips parted in surprise.

_Since when had he become so readable?_

And he’d said it with such concern too. Far too much concern for one to have over a silly nightmare. But perhaps those nightmares were worth being concerned about? Lately the dreams of the burning forest had become more and more frequent.

“Nezumi?”

“Go to sleep Shion,” Nezumi sighed as he rolled over, hoping the extra space would let Shion forget about his trouble.

For a moment the bed was still until Shion shifted and finally settled. Nezumi almost got ready to fall back asleep until he felt Shion’s back press against his own. He froze, waiting for some comment or movement from Shion. Instead his back remained as it was, resting against Nezumi’s. A spot of warmth against his chilled skin.

Nezumi let out a sigh and pulled the blankets around him tighter. The cold night air on the sweat of his skin had cooled him considerably. He considered rolling over as Shion began to softly snore away behind him.

To sleep with your back to someone, unguarded, exposed. It was an incredibly dangerous thing to do, especially in a place like the West Block. A place where you were always in danger, even tucked away underground as they were now. You trusted no one.

But then again, Shion had always been like this, unguarded. He simply did not have the heart to close people off. That part of him hadn’t changed in all the four years since Nezumi hand first met him.

 _Should you trust me that much?_ Nezumi wondered as he began to let himself drift off to sleep. _That you would leave yourself open like this?_

 _To be fair,_ a part of his mind spoke back to him. _You’re letting yourself be open to him too._

 _Am I?_ Nezumi’s breath hitched as he thought about it. Shion’s hushed snores filled the silence.

_That boy has slipped beneath your guard. He will use your weakness to strike you down._

_But he wouldn’t do that,_ Nezumi thought back. _Not Shion._

_Oh? And how well do you really know him?_

Nezumi turned in the bed to get a look at the person sleeping behind him. He watched as Shion’s shoulders rose and fell with his breath.

Suppose he really didn’t know him. Suppose that the kind boy who had opened the window for Nezumi all those years ago, the one who had helped him, the one who always talked about stupid ideas about saving everyone and everything. Suppose that was never the true nature of Shion?

_How well do I really know you?_

As if sensing his unease Shion shifted slightly to peer over his shoulder at him. He always seemed to be able to know when he was upset. It kinda pissed Nezumi off.

“Nezumi...?” Shion blinked wearily at him.

For a moment Nezumi stayed trapped in his gaze. Those worried eyes that always cared too much. He reached out and placed a hand on his head, running his fingers through his snow-white hair.

“I’m fine,” He assured him with a low hum. “Go back to sleep.”

He kept his hand there for a moment after Shion had turned back over, letting his fingers slide through the white strands one last time. As he pulled his hand away, he rolled over and let himself settle with Shion behind him.

In the end he fell asleep with his back to Shion, facing a room of haunting shadows and the remnants of his nightmares.


End file.
